Firmware upgrade fails - I'm back in a rental. :(

So, at my 5K service, one of the firmware upgrades glitched, and now the car is dead. Dealer says it might have to wait for a Tesla engineer. That could take awhile.

What might have happened is the servicing technician did not make sure there was a fully charged (12V) battery in your car before starting the firmware update procedure. The Tech Stream tool used to update the Tesla Gateway ECU may not have its own external power supply, so to operate reliably, it is dependent on the car's 12V battery. If the battery voltage drops too low, the Tech Stream or ECU itself may glitch in the process of being reprogamming and cause a SNAFU!

Dsinned, that is a great idea. Actually, on day 2 of trying to unbrick my Rav, the tech told me that they tried to swap out the 12V battery with a new one and then retry the firmware upgrade. It failed again.

It looks like it might be an ECU replacement, though I was just told we won't know that for sure until Monday. On Monday, the Tesla rep is coming to try and get it to work (I guess). In the meantime, I am still in the ICE rental.

Frustrating that the car was working great. No issues. I take it in for the 5K service and bam, it's totally dead. Such a bummer.

One of the TSBs was posted on this forum and there are explicit instructions to use a special rig that charges the battery and holds it at specific voltage during the firmware update procedure.

Just found the TSB posting here

Relevant pages:




Seems to me that the battery wouldn't matter if they were following the directions.

Miimura, that is good info. I wish I had that going in. I have a feeling they didn't follow the sequence. I suppose to hear back tomorrow about the status.

I'm having problems charging at work. Toyota told me that my Firmware is 1.3.37 - the oldest one available from Tesla and that I should take it in for an update (Go figure - I just bought my car on April 25th, less than 2 months ago).

I took it in to DCH Toyota of Oxnard and saw a blue Rav4 EV with the coveted "Powered by Tesla" license plate frame there. Apparently it is having issues with the upgrade as well - that wouldn't happen to be yours, would it Shade?

Either way, I hope they get it right and quickly.

Uleite,

Yep, that's my EV.

I guess another tech is coming out tomorrow. I hope they can figure it out. My service rep told me he had another EV in today. I hope we both get our EV's back soon.

Yep - just got off the phone with the service rep Dave. The 1st half of the upgrade goes fine, but the 2nd half with the drive train failed with mine. He said a Tesla rep was coming out tomorrow too. He also said if it went beyond tomorrow, they'd put me in a loaner.

That's what happen to mine as well. I really hope they can figure it out without having to order a new ECU.

Confirmation that a new computer (ECU) was ordered today. Awaiting shipment and installation.

Better to get it replaced and tested before the warranty is up.

smkettner said:

Better to get it replaced and tested before the warranty is up.

Click to expand...

This is a powertrain item (car won't drive without it) so we're nowhere near the end of the warranty.

Sorry Shade - I heard about the new computer requirement. I lucked out, my firmware updated on the 2nd attempt. Happy to report that they were also able to reduce the incessant reverse beeping to a single beep.

On the positive side, it's a good thing it's still in the warranty window. Dave said it was $4000 for the computer. He is not a Tesla fan.

All the best for a quick turnaround!

Thanks Uleite. I'm glad yours worked on 2nd try.

The new Tesla computer was installed today, the firmware took, and I'm back in action.

Now I'm wondering if my car will charge on the 31st of the month with the new software. :lol:

Is this the first issues you guys have had with your Rav? I am considering buying one. Because I live in NY it is risky. At $30k plus thats a big risk. Would you do it over again?

Hi Jimbo,

Yes, I'd get the RAV EV again.

If an EV fits your needs, the RAV is still a great combination of size and range.

This must be all too common of an issue as we just experienced this at Frank Toyota.

Took our car in for maintenance and the update. Wouldn't you know, it failed and the service writer is saying it may need a new battery???

Toyota corporate came through and I guess they got whatever work around they needed as they were successful in making the ECU update eventually. Still no NAV update as they are waiting on some tool/part to make that update.